China’s March oil throughput slows on Middle East supply risks, crude output hits record

BEIJING: China’s crude oil throughput in March dropped 2.2% year-on-year, official data showed on Thursday, as the Iran war curbed refinery runs, while domestic crude output hit a record high.

Refinery throughput in the world’s second-largest oil consumer in March was 61.67 million metric tons, or about 14.52 million barrels per day, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Throughput in the first three months rose 1.1% to 184.31 million metric tons, or 14.95 million bpd, from a year earlier, according to the data.

Refineries used 68.79% of their capacity in March, down 0.9 percentage point from a year earlier and down 4.47 percentage points from February, Chinese consultancy Oilchem said.

The decline in utilisation rates reflected various factors including crude supply risks, the firm said in a report.

In March, China’s refineries produced 36.13 million tons of oil products, down 1.25% from a year earlier.

Gasoline output fell 2.95% to 13.51 million tons, while diesel output rose 0.88% to 17.49 million tons. Kerosene output dropped 3.72% to 5.13 million tons, the biggest decline among the three, Oilchem said.

The official data also showed that March domestic crude production rose 0.2% year-on-year to 19.07 million tons, or 4.49 million bpd, a record high for a single month.

China’s oil production in the first three months was 54.8 million tons, or 4.44 million bpd, up 1.3% compared to a year earlier. Natural gas output rose 3% in March to 23.4 billion cubic metres, and output in the first three months totalled 68.1 bcm, up 3% year-on-year.